# testicle transplant
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 12, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728 "2002-03-12T00:22:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/1 "2002-03-12T00:22:24Z")
No, not for me, silly! But I wonder, if one were to undergo such a procedure, would your body use the new hardware to:
[list=a]
[li]continue to produce the donor’s sperm (and hence not sperm “of” the new owner);[/li][li]adapt to produce sperm of the recipient; or[/li][li]something else?[/li][/list=a]
And what would be the ramifications for tracing (semen) DNA back to the testicle recipient? Paternity indeterminant? Could someone get away with rape? Or pass on the family jewels forever, sowing one’s oats for years to come (no pun intended, I swear!)?
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### Author:  [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/2 "2002-03-12T00:31:05Z")
I really have no knowledge of the subjec, but I will complicate the question by adding this. What about a uterus transplant? Specifically, will a male to female transsexual in the future ever be able to produce children? Then I ask the same, will it be “their” child, genetically? I’m assuming it would, if it could.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/3 "2002-03-12T01:19:57Z")
If successful, the transplanted testicle would produce sperm from the donor’s genotype. Any children fathered would genetically be the donor’s children.
There’s really no good reason for testicle transplant. If testosterone is wanting, then injections or a patch can be used. If children are desired, artificial insemination is more effective than testicle transplant. If aesthetics require the “two-ball” look, prosthetics can be inserted. To insert foreign tissue, which requires strong anti-rejection drugs which weaken the immune system, seems foolish.
I suppose a case could be made for a transplant from an identical twin brother.
QtM, MD
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/4 "2002-03-12T03:51:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dale The Bold \*
> \*\*I really have no knowledge of the subjec, but I will complicate the question by adding this. What about a uterus transplant? Specifically, will a male to female transsexual in the future ever be able to produce children? Then I ask the same, will it be “their” child, genetically? I’m assuming it would, if it could. \*\*
A uterus might theoretically (_very_ theoretically) be made to work, but the real question is where this trannsexual is getting the ovaries from?
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### Author:  [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/5 "2002-03-12T03:58:32Z")
My urologist ex-girlfriend told me about the only testicle transplant she’d ever heard of, and it was into an adolescent boy from his identical twin brother. So I guess that doesn’t help with the OP.
Apparently testicles are very “immunogenic” (my ex-girlfriend’s word), so getting one from an identical twin is really the only way you could get one.
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/6 "2002-03-12T03:59:37Z")
I’ve heard (no cite, and it does sound fishy) that the Saudis are attempting a female to female uterus transplant.
Because of genetic and hormone issues, a female to born-male transplant would be much more problematic, I would think.
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### Author:  [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/7 "2002-03-12T08:22:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Menocchio \*
> \*\*I’ve heard (no cite, and it does sound fishy) that the Saudis are attempting a female to female uterus transplant.
>
> Because of genetic and hormone issues, a female to born-male transplant would be much more problematic, I would think. \*\*
Just for you…
[http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020307/ts/health\_womb\_dc\_1.html](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020307/ts/health_womb_dc_1.html)
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid\_1857000/1857426.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1857000/1857426.stm)
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### Author:  [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/8 "2002-03-12T12:28:03Z")
Why would the children be the donor’s children? I know women are born with all their eggs already, and the ovaries just pops 'em out every months when sexual maturity hits…but I thought sperm was made “fresh” all the time. It seems the recipient’s hormones, cells, and whatever else goes into the sperm making process, would take over the donor testicle and make it the recipient’s.
But then, what the hell do I know? Reproduction isn’t my specialty 😃
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### Author:  [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/9 "2002-03-12T12:40:29Z")
A cite for the identical twin testical transplant:
[http://www.salon.com/21st/books/1998/01/cov\_15books.html](http://www.salon.com/21st/books/1998/01/cov_15books.html)
I find it amazing this operation was carried out a quarter of a century ago (1977).
Even more amazing that the name of their child was “Christopher Gene…”
Then there’s this about someone having preventative castration for transplant at a later date after cancer therapy (like a woman getting an ovary frozen):
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid\_456000/456427.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_456000/456427.stm)
Incidentally on Montel Williams’ “Risky Teen Sex Out of Control” or some such episode they had a girl who’d slept with identical twins, and it was impossible to tell which had fathered her child. These were (monozygotic?) twins or something, the most identical kind that totally share their DNA.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/10 "2002-03-12T14:54:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by SuperLorie \*
> \*\* It seems the recipient’s hormones, cells, and whatever else goes into the sperm making process, would take over the donor testicle and make it the recipient’s. \*\*
Cite? That goes against all known medical genetics. How do you claim that the host’s genome is inserted into the donor’s gametogenic line? LaMarckian evolutionary theory has been out of favor for a loooong time.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/11 "2002-03-12T18:30:08Z")
The sperm cells aren’t there all along, but they are produced from cells in the testicles. The sperm have the same genome as the testicles (or half of it, anyway), and the testicles have the same genome as the donor. Legally or practically, the offspring might be considered the host’s, but genetically, they’d be the donor’s.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2002, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/12 "2002-03-12T20:04:54Z")
I’d give my left nut to hear the story about how **Fiver** began dating his urologist.
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### Author:  [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/13 "2002-03-15T16:08:12Z")
**istara** , the testicular transplant you link to isn’t the one my ex told me about. Yours involved adult twins. My ex’s was about adolescent twins just reaching puberty; one twin had an undescended testicle that had been removed at birth, then he lost the other in an accident (falling out of a tree, I think…eep!).
Their father insisted on the transplant so the boy would go through normal puberty (yes, I know this could have been done through hormone injections too) and be able to father children someday.
**lieu** , I wasn’t dating my urologist, you dope! She was my girlfriend, whom I’d met at our UU church, who happened to be a urologist. Now give me your left nut.
(fixed coding – manhattan)
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### Author:  [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/14 "2002-03-15T16:09:56Z")
Oh, dammit. Mods, would one of you fix my coding, please?
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### Author:  [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/15 "2002-03-15T16:53:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \*
> \*\*
> Cite? That goes against all known medical genetics. How do you claim that the host’s genome is inserted into the donor’s gametogenic line? LaMarckian evolutionary theory has been out of favor for a loooong time. \*\*
Huh?? I wasn’t making a claim! I used the words " I thought", and “what the hell do I know, reproduction isn’t my specialty” I assumed that those words would imply I too was unknowing, yet curious about the subject introduced by the OP :rolleyes: Silly me.
But Chronos got my drift and actually answered the questions posed. Thanks Chronos! 😃
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/16 "2002-03-15T21:29:18Z")
Sorry, **SL**. Next time I’ll try reading for context.
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### Author:  [@MrCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrCee)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/17 "2011-03-26T19:47:42Z")
There’s really no good reason for testicle transplant. If testosterone is wanting, then injections or a patch can be used. If children are desired, artificial insemination is more effective than testicle transplant. If aesthetics require the “two-ball” look, prosthetics can be inserted. To insert foreign tissue, which requires strong anti-rejection drugs which weaken the immune system, seems foolish.
I suppose a case could be made for a transplant from an identical twin brother.
QtM, MD
[/QUOTE]
I would have to strongly disagree with a few of your statements, and not that i am trying to be a jerk or anything i just want to slowly point out and thoroughly explain certain things. **-**
First off, you say there’s no good reason for testicle transplants, because there is HRT . Right!! right right!, The so called “magically drug” “that replaces Testosterone”. ok don’t get me wrong i am so elated that doc/scientist know how to replace t in the body, but lets be real here big HRT companies like Andro gel make so much money because that’s the only option men have who had their Testicles removed due to a disease or condition or trauma. Its 2011, which means the medical field is advancing soooooooooooo much, why not do Allogeneic Testicular Transplant, it can replace ones hormones very well instead of them always having to buy expensive cream , gel or get pellets or painful injections???( which does not even come close to someone who has Testicles and have regular t Levels, and not to mention it will save them a lot of money. Yes , Yes, Yes eventually they would have to take anti rejection pills, BUT every thing comes with a risk including taking TRT such heart diseases, gaining weight (obesity) osteoporosis ( Bone Lose) mood swings, depression etc etc. For Example, a healthy 20 year old man has to get his testicles removed due to serious injury or accident, he’s athletic no heart problems, strong bones, then all of sudden he gets on HRT and yes his t levels fluctuate as well as his weight, his libido(if he will still have one) and his whole perception of life. Not to mention he cant have kids and he will always feel like he’s different no matter how much support and confidents he has. Testosterone to a man is everything, you lose that and it sucks big time, and it annoys me that people take it so lightly by saying selfish self center things like "why would one want testicle transplants when they can take hrt "? That’s like asking why would you to want to be able to see again when you can have a blind stick and a seeing dog, or why would you want Lumineers when you can have dentures or why would you want breast implants when you can stuff balloons in your bra or Currently as we speak they are building a road from Florida to the Caribbean island, you could ask why would they build a road from Florida to Caribbeans when instead of people driving there, they could fly there!!! I can go on and on and on and on but You get my point??? My point is Once again its 2011 and Its a lot of options out there but not for this field and it should be. Testicular Transplantation( from one human to another) should and can be done, and i guarantee it would cure Hypoganadism way better than HRT, and would definitely put those companies number down ($$$$) BIG TIME!!. I personally think that’s why they don’t want it done, but you know what they say Money talks ,everything else walks.
In conclusion, Scientist should put more research into this and stop using lame excuses like it can be done, because it can be done. Face Transplant was done, a penile transplant was done, a tongue transplant was done, a hand transplant was also done. All very successful, but not practiced enough. Hopefully one day it will happen, in the meantime we can just all pray 🙂
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/18 "2011-03-26T20:03:07Z")
Can you get the donor testicle from a zombie?
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/19 "2011-03-26T20:03:24Z")
That was a ballsy post.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/testicle-transplant/97728/20 "2011-03-26T20:10:57Z")
> [@istara](#):
>
> Incidentally on Montel Williams’ “Risky Teen Sex Out of Control” or some such episode they had a girl who’d slept with identical twins, and it was impossible to tell which had fathered her child. These were (monozygotic?) twins or something, the most identical kind that totally share their DNA.
So what happened?
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